WATER -- Water for Africa: Technology, Education, and Reciprocity

Summer 2010: July 24 to August 9 (tentative dates)

Program Location

Benin is a small independent country in West Africa. Porto-Novo is the traditional capital of Benin and is particularly rich in culture and history. During our stay in Benin, we will be guests at the Songhai Center, a United Nations recognized center for sustainable development. The Songhai Center has a twenty-year record of encouraging and implementing sustainable development throughout West Africa. The Songhai Center in Porto-Novo consists of a 40-acre working farm, agricultural processing facilities, restaurant and dormitories. Songhai staff and interns may study agriculture, business administration, communications, environmental stewardship and machining. Staff and interns that we work with and stay with come from all parts of Africa to study sustainable development strategies at Songhai.

Academic Program

Water for Africa is an interdisciplinary approach to development attempting to balance Technology, Education and ensuring Reciprocity among project partners.

Students in this program take a common course, WATER and, as part of the course, may travel to sub-Saharan Africa. WATER focuses on the engineering, public health, and cultural dimensions of improving water and sanitation in a developing country. Students in the course study one of the central problems of international development through both traditional textbook-style learning and a two-week in-country service learning experience.

Instructional methods include lectures, guided tours, field work, and journal assignment and/or papers.

Tentative course offerings:
ENGR 360: WATER for Africa, 4 credits

Accommodations

Students will reside in residence halls. Group meals will be provided.

Program Costs

For the current projected costs for this program, please click on the following link to the Fees for JMU Study Abroad Programs page.

Application

For more detailed instructions and to download the application, please click on the following link to the Applications and Forms section for JMU Short-Term Programs.

In addition to the Short-term Application, interested students should submit an essay explaining your interest in participating in this program and a faculty recommendation.

For More Information

For additional information about the WATER program in Benin, please visit this web site and contact the program director:

Bradley Striebig, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
School of Engineering
E-mail: striebba@jmu.edu
Tel.: 540-568-8895